Tri Nations Series

For the Tri-Nations Series that is contested in rugby league, see Rugby League Tri-Nations.

The Tri Nations Series is an annual international rugby union series held between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The series is played on a home and away basis. Originally the three nations played each other twice but was changed to three times from 2006. The competition is organized by SANZAR, a consortium formed by the rugby governing bodies of Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

The first tournament was contested in 1996, which was won by the All Blacks. Since the inception of the Tri Nations series, the games played in it between Australia and New Zealand also determine the winner of the Bledisloe Cup each year.

History

Australia and New Zealand first played each other in 1903. South Africa toured both nations in 1921, but there was never any formal competition in place, unlike the Home Nations in the northern hemisphere. The three nations met sporadically, with Australia and New Zealand meeting regularly to contest the Bledisloe Cup. The birth of the Rugby World Cup in 1987 was a step closer to the modern-day Tri Nations Series - due to apartheid, South Africa would not compete in the World Cup until 1995.

Professionalism launched the Tri Nations concept. Nearing the completion of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, SANZAR announced a ten-year deal worth £360 million. The opening tournament of 1996 was dominated by the All Blacks, who stormed to victory undefeated, leaving the Springboks and the Wallabies with just one win each – against each other. The opening exchange was between New Zealand and Australia, New Zealand winning by over 40 points and although they won all four of their games, the latter matches were a lot closer in their scorelines.

A similar story unfolded the following year, the All Blacks maintained their dominance over the new competition, and again went undefeated. Australia and South Africa found themselves in similar position again, with just one win each. The 1998 series was somewhat of a turnaround for all nations, with South Africa winning the tournament and Australia finishing second. Two-time winner New Zealand finished at the bottom with no wins. Though the following tournament, New Zealand again became Tri Nation’s champions, and defending champions South Africa fell to the bottom.

Under Rod McQueen, Australia, the World Champions at the time, won their first Tri Nations championship in 2000. The tournament is also notable for the opening Australia’s opening match against New Zealand at Stadium Australia, where 109,874 spectators turned up. Australia continued their reign as Tri Nations champions after successfully defending it the following year. Their run ended in 2002, when the All Blacks won the championship again, they successfully defended it in 2003 as well. South Africa won the 2004 tournament, where all three nations each finished with two wins. The Springboks emerged as winners due to their superior table points. The trophy returned to New Zealand in 2005, and the Wallabies failed to win a game.

There have been persistent rumours about the inclusion of Argentina into this competition, but no official word has yet been said.

The competition

The order of fixtures has changed several times throughout the history of the series. The most recent reworking of the Tri Nations calendar will take effect with the 2006 event. This was the result of a new television deal between SANZAR and broadcasters in the United Kingdom and the SANZAR countries. Each team will play the other three times. In 2006, the series will open in New Zealand, and the first four rounds will alternate between New Zealand and Australia. The fifth round will be in Australia. After a one-week break, the series will return to New Zealand, and then finish with South Africa's three home fixtures. Each team will by necessity have two home fixtures against one team and only one home fixture against the other.

In the past, each team played the others twice. After some tweaking with scheduling, it was finally settled to start the series with two fixtures either in South Africa or New Zealand, and move the series toward the country that did not host the opening rounds. Under this setup, Australia's home fixtures were always the middle two in the series.

The competition begins in July. Originally, it started late in July, but with the expansion of the series, the start date has moved to early in the month. It typically ends early in September. The Tri Nations opens after the completion of the Super 14 competition for the year, which features teams from the SANZAR countries.

The winner is determined by a points system:

4 points for a win
2 points for a draw
0 points for a loss

"Bonus points" may also be earned in any given match, and count fully toward deciding the series winner. A team may earn one bonus point in either of the following ways:

Scoring four or more tries in a match, regardless of the final result of the match.
Losing by seven points (a converted try) or less.

A victorious team can collect either 4 or 5 points, depending on whether it scored 4 tries. A losing team may collect anywhere from 0 to 2 points. At the end of the series the team with the most points is declared the winner. If teams end level on points, the first tiebreaker is point differential, followed by number of tries during the series. However, the Tri Nations has yet to finish in a tie for the top spot.

Results

Year	Winner	Games played	Games won	Games drawn	Games lost	Points for	Points against	Points difference	Bonus points	Table points
1996	New Zealand	4	4			119	60	(+) 59	1	17
1997	New Zealand	4	4			159	109	(+) 5	2	18
1998	South Africa	4	4			80	54	(+) 26	1	17
1999	New Zealand	4	3		1	103	61	(+) 42		12
2000	Australia	4	3		1	104	86	(+) 18	2	14
2001	Australia	4	2	1	1	81	75	(+) 6	1	11
2002	New Zealand	4	3		1	97	65	(+) 32	3	15
2003	New Zealand	4	4			142	65	(+) 77	2	18
2004	South Africa	4	2		2	110	98	(+) 12	3	11
2005	New Zealand	4	3		1	111	86	(+) 25	3	15